iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum & Mop - Woven Neutral

We have owned a J7+ combo vacuum and mop for a while, and really like it. But we have a two-story home, and I got tired of lugging the J7+ up and down the stairs, so i bought the i5+ to use in our upstairs only. In comparison to the J7+ combo, the i5+ is pretty basic. While it will do "smart maps", you cannot assign "no-go" zones, or "mop only" or "vacuum only". The mapping that it does is good, but very basic, and you can apparently only store one map at a time. Also, maps created on the J7+ are not usable by the i5+ (or vice versa), even though both units use the same iRobot app software. Unlike the J7+ combo, which has the mop feature integrated into the unit (with a great mop "lifting" feature so it doesn't drag a wet, dirty mop across carpeting), the i5+ requires one to swap out the vacuum dust bin for a separate "mop + vacuum" wet bin that holds a small amount of liquid (water or water+cleaning solution). This of course has its drawbacks, and it also limits where the i5+ combo unit's self-cleaning homebase charging unit is supposed to be located....more about that later. Setup and unboxing: The boxing is very good, and it's really easy to physically set up the homebase and the i5+ unit. But that's about all that was easy. When it comes to wifi set up with this model, I had all sorts of difficulty connecting it to my router (an Asus GT AXE 16000, by no means a cheap router). The i5+ connects only to 2.4ghz (unlike the J7+ which has both 2.4 and 5 ghz radios), but it refused all attempts to connect it to the Asus AXE 16000 (we have 60+ other smart and non-smart devices connected to the 2.4 ghz, we are not using WPA3, and no other devices I've ever connected have refused to connect, so I am pretty sure that the fault here doesn't lie with my router). I first tried using the QR Code for wifi set up that comes with the i5+ directions, but that was a "no go",...l.repeatedly. I tried other methods to manually connect, again without success. Eventually, I found a way to get it to connect to one of our more distant AP's on our network (also an Asus, a much older RTAC66U with its own SSID). Hey, at least I got it to work and amazingly, it's staying connected, even though the AP is pretty far from most of our upstairs where the i5+ is located. All in all, wifi set up took about two hours, and it was probably the most frustrating experience for a wifi device I've ever experienced. Also, and this is a huge negative, the documentation that comes with the product is extremely minimal, and there is literally zero information in any printed material about connecting to wifi if difficulties are encountered. The printed "quick connect" sheet directs to the iRobot website, but even so, the online available documentation is woefully inadequate, and really has nothing about dealing with wifi connection issues. I managed to find some help on Reddit, but really, how difficult would it be for Roomba to update it's own literature? Roomba does offer free telephone support, and the rep I spoke with was sympathetic, but really had no answer for the issue, other than to tell me that my Asus AXE 16000 is on the "good" list of compatibie routers. The other main drawback to this model is that there is literally NOTHING contained in any of the documentation regarding how to set up the mopping feature for the i5+ bin (which must be swapped out of the unit for the vacuuming dust bin when one wants to have the unit do mopping). I later learned (again from calling in to Roomba support) that there is a QR Code imprinted on the outside of the mopping bin that needs to be accessed first to set up the mop bin, Of course, this was after I tried to swap the bins without first knowing how to set it up. I learned that if you just put the mop wet bin into the Roomba first without setting it up in the software, you will not be able to even start the i5+, which says "unable to start" and "bin full". As with wifi, set up, I found absolutely nothing about how to set up the mopping bind in any of the printed or online material for the i5+ combo. To set up the mop bin, the i5+ needs to be sitting on the charging home base, but then you'll likely encounter another big issue: To complete the installation of the mop bin and enable its use, the software requires you to tell it that the home base has been relocated to a non-carpeted area. If you do not move the base, or at least tell the software that it's been moved, you cannot complete the mop bin set up. This of course lease to the biggest drawback of the i5 (and presumably the J5+ also, which also requires bin swapping): In our upstairs, we have wall-to-wall carpeting in all rooms except our upstairs master bathroom (which is what we want to mop from time to time). There is no room in the non-carpeted bathroom for the home base, so it must be located in a carpeted area. This means that whenever we want to have the i5+ mop the bathroom, we need to physically pick up the unit, put it in the bathroom, swap the bins, close the bathroom door so the unit will not be able to run across the carpeting trying to return "home" when it is finished mopping, and then pick it up, swap out the bins again, then physically place it back on the home charging base. What we discovered is that even with manually setting up mopping in the bathroom, it's not possible to stop the job in the app, and the Roomba will just continue to try to "return home". So the best one can do is to interrupt the Roomba from traveling and place it physically on the charging base to get the mopping job to terminate. In other words, it's just not possible to do automatic vacuuming AND mopping and avoid the mop from being dragged across the carpet, either on the way into the bathroom or worse, on the way back after its done mopping (and dragging not only a wet mop, but a dirty one). So mopping is going to require some real attention and human interaction, and I suspect that we probably just won't use it very often. Unlike our J7+, which requires none of this interaction (other than refilling the mop liquid compartment). The good news about the i5+ is that it's an excellent vacuum cleaner, when used just as a vacuum. Good suction, and seems to clean very well. It also has the self-emptying dust bin, so that's nice as well. The self-empyting feature is pretty loud, but nowhere near as loud as with the J7+ (which sounds like a large jumbo jet taking off). This one is more like a Lear Jet. Even with all the issues I encountered, I'm still giving this 4 stars because it does clean well, and other than some of the software limitations and issues I found, it's really well-constructed and pretty solid. Not sure I'm going to keep this model and may just bite the bullet and upgrade to another J7+, or to some other brand. Time will tell. Oh, and this was on sale at the time I purchased it, $200 off, so it was hard to pass up. Still only time will tell if the hassle of doing the mopping with this much required intervention is justified by the huge discount in the price. Oh, and regarding whether I'd recommend this unit, the reviewing software requires a choice of "yes" or "no"....there was no "maybe" option, so I just chose "yes" based on two factors: 1. Price, and 2. It's a Roomba. But make your own decision, as YMMV.

This roomba is a great time saver. I personally do not use the mop feature but it does do its job. On hardwood floors and the like, it’s great! On thick carpet it’s alright, I still use a normal vacuum those. Thin rugs are fine as well. It takes some messing around with the app to have the rooms separated. However I think it’s worth the money, especially when it’s on sale.

Love it! Have a long haired dog and it keeps my house hair free. Gave a 4 star as it doesn’t pick up sand, sugar or salt ( which I have spilled).